Blog

One of the things that we try to emphasize with the kids and caretakers is the importance of preventing sickness, not just treating it. This last week, some of the kids learned that the single most important thing that they can do to stay healthy is to wash their hands. To demonstrate where germs like to hide and how we need to wash our hands, we used bright green germs (paint) to practice washing correctly. Everyone had fun and learned good technique, as Evelyn demonstrated for the camera.
 

Sitting in the office in Texas yesterday, I had a surprise visitor -- David from Fairfield Baptist Church in Cypress, TX. On his way to Tennessee to ship off almost a thousand pairs of shoes to Liberia, he stopped to drop off photos of the children at Fairfield Baptist Orphanage putting up their 57 new mosquito nets, courtesy of ORR and Universal Outreach.

Thanks, Fairfield!

As I'm leaving Liberia in just a few hours, I'd like to take a moment to thank you -- YOU! -- for making this past year such a success.

Together we undertook truly ambitious projects and saw not only physical conditions but children's lives transformed. We dug and rehabilitated several wells. We set up orphanage gardens and farms, training caretakers and children how to get the most out of the soil and seeds. We delivered food to those that needed it most. We provided care for -- and training to prevent -- common illnesses that Liberians suffer through needlessly.

Kindergarten graduation is a big deal in Liberia. We're not sure why. Perhaps because so many parents were unable to complete their education, they are all the more eager to see their children succeed. Recently, the field team was invited to several kindergarten graduations, complete with song, dance, pinning ceremonies, caps and gowns, and some pretty cute kids.

Can you believe that over 2,000 children die everyday around the world from mosquito-borne malaria? In Liberia last year, 21,000 children under the age of five died from malaria. However, Liberians just believe that malaria is normal part of life.
We spend alot of time talking with the directors and children about malaria. Malaria education, prevention and treatment are big focus areas at the beginning of rainy season. This rainy season, we want to make sure that there is a treated mosquito net on every bed in every home.

Half of 2009 has officially passed and Liberia is well into the rainy season. Amidst the downpour of rain, the 40 orphans at Mother Harley's have a newly completed roof! Read about this project and more in our July newsletter.

Well, today is a good day.

Three and a half weeks after starting our craziest rainy season project to date (re-roofing an entire orphanage), I'm glad to say it's finished! We hit this project hard and fast. We set out early every morning and Moses learned a lesson while bouncing around in the back of the pick-up we rented: if your breakfast is rice and cassava, you should finish it before you get in the truck or else most of it ends up on the windscreen of the car behind you!

Courtesy of our visiting media specialists, Michael Kraus and Will Traynor, here is a quick look at Mother Harley's. As of today, shiny new metal roof covers almost half the building and the second half will go even quicker. Thank you for your prayers--the weather's been perfect, everything's gone very smoothly. More soon.

Construction Update At Mother Harley's from Michael Kraus on Vimeo.

In the Child Development Program we have been talking about the Fruit of the Spirit. Yesterday we got to "gentleness". I asked the kids what it meant to be gentle, and not a single child knew. I thought this was a fluke, so I went to my next home and repeated the question. Again, not a single child knew what it meant to be gentle. I was a bit surprised as some of these kids are 16-17 years old. So I came home and conducted an informal survey and asked some of our staff. They also did not know the word gentle, except in the context of "ladies and gentlemen".